Maybe Not That Bad
by MortalDhampir17
Summary: From a young age, Rose had been in love with Dimitri Belikov, but she had a problem... Multiple ones actually. One, he was older than her. Two, they barely spoke to each other. Three, he hooked up with random girls and finally, four, he was kinda of a criminal.
1. Important note

Hey, so this is the first story I have ever published and I'm really nervous about it. My friends actually encouraged me to do it so here I am.

English is not my first language so I apologise in advance for any mistakes that may appear.

Disclaimer: This story is based on the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. All the characters belong to Richelle Mead, I only own the plot and maybe some characters I might add. I will only write this once, because I don't really want to repeat it in every chapter.


	2. Chapter 1

**Rose POV**

"You look amazing, Rose." Lissa said.

Lissa was my best friend and as close to me as a sister. That's why she and Ambrose, another good friend of mine, were helping me get dressed for the party. Mark, a sort of uncle for all of us, was throwing a party in the park. Kinda of a neighborhood party, everyone was invited, and I knew Dimitri and his friends would be there.

I've liked him for a long time but he has always seen me as a kid. Well, tonight that's going to change.

I was wearing my favourite pair of ripped jeans and a white tank top that I'd bought with the money my mother gave me. I had my black combat boots on, as well as the silver bracelet Lissa'd given me. With my long, dark and curly hair falling down my back, I thought I looked good.

"I think there's something missing... Hum..." Ambrose tilted his head to the side and looked at me.

"She looks beautiful, Ambrose. Dimitri won't know what hit him!" Lissa smirked.

I felt myself flush at her comment.

"Got it!" Ambrose jumped off my bed and took off his black leather jacket. "Not only will you look beautiful, but also badass."

He handed me the jacket. I wasn't sure if I should take it, I didn't really liked people giving me stuff because I couldn't afford it on my own.

"Don't give me shit, Hathaway. I'm only borrowing it 'cause I love this jacket and, as much as I love you, there's no way I'm getting rid of it." Ambrose said, like he could read my mind.

I laughed and took it.

"Wow, Ambrose is right..." My best friend said, looking at me.

"Aren't I always?" Ambrose joked.

"Thank you, Ambrose." I said, turning back and pulling him for a hug. "Get over here, Liss! It's a group hug!"

We got ready and left my house. I didn't see my mom, but then, she's rarely home sometimes. We reached the park and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was completely different. By the trees there were tables full of snacks and in the middle of the park someone had tried to build a dancefloor with a wooden platform. There were speakers scattered around the park and in a table near the entrance, stood Mark with a huge radio. We waved as we walked pass him. It seemed like everyone in the neighborhood had showed up and sure enough... in the furthest corner of the park, sitting on sofas and chairs, was Dimitri and the other guys.

"Oh, I see Mia and Mer. Let's go talk to them!" Lissa squealed.

This was Lissa. She's the kindest person I know and she can't even see someone sad or hurt without trying to heal their pain somehow. A couple of days ago Lissa found an ugly, smelly and stray cat, took it home and begged her parents to let her keep the creature.

See what I mean?

Of course they let her, the Dragomirs love their daughter and would do anything to make Liss happy. At least one of us has a loving family...

I feel a pang in my chest with that thought. Okay, let's not think about this, Rose. I tell myself that, over and over, until the feeling goes away.

"So, how is Roadkill doing?" I ask.

That's what I call the cat. We both hate each other's guts so I think it's appropriate.

Lissa, however, does not.

"His name is Oscar and you know it, Rose," She narrows her eyes at me.

"Oh, I do! But that's a boring name. Roadkill sounds much cooler and the ugly thing even looks the part." She waves her hand, dismissing my Rose logic.

"He. He's a he, not a thing!"

"Okay chill, girly!"

She can't change my mind about the black cat though. I've never been fond of animals and they've never liked me either. Maybe it's my DNA, who knows?

We reach Mia and Mer, dodging a few over-excited people on the way.

"Hey, guys! So what do you think about the party?" Meredith asks.

I've known Meredith for a few years, she's been in my class since the 7th grade. She's very pretty, with long and auburn hair, green eyes and long legs. Mia, also in my class, looks like a doll. And I mean that literally. She's pretty and small, with short curly blond hair and sweet brown eyes. A living doll.

"It's good, I think." I reply.

We catch up for a few minutes and manage to talk about a million things. We talk about school, summer break, guys, a few girls we don't like and the party. To my left, Mia, Lissa and Ambrose seem to be talking about clothes, shopping and sales. I cringe and resume my conversation with Meredith about kicking some guys asses in self defense classes. Mark's actually the one teaching those.

He started giving them when a girl got assaulted in the neighborhood, saying that this isn't a very safe place. I agree, but nothing ever happened to me. Even so, me and a few other people started attending the classes.

I mean, it is a good excuse to beat people up and learn to do it the right way.

We finished talking and Ambrose dragged us to the table where the drinks were. There were a lot of drinks here, since simple orange juice to beer, cider and vodka.

Ambrose turned to us and opened his arms.

"Alright, ladies! Tonight I'll be your bartender. What do you wish to drink?"

I look at Lissa at the exact moment that she turns to me, we take one look at each other and start to laugh like crazy people. Liss trips in a stone and we laugh even harder. By this point, Ambrose has joined us too, except that he's holding the table for support, while me and Lissa hold each other, gasping for air.

"Oh my god, it's like we're already drunk!" Ambrose says, grabbing three red cups.

"Okay, bartender, I'd like some apple cider please." Lissa tries to keep a straight face , biting her lip to hide her smile.

"Your wish is my command, princess." Ambrose replies.

Princess was Lissa's nickname. We started calling her that because she's got an almost regal posture, like she was part of a royal family.

"Can you get me a cup of black vodka?" I ask. Black vodka was my favourite drink, not as strong as pure vodka and sweeter.

"Sure thing!" Ambrose handed us our drinks, taking a cup of beer for himself. Ugh, I hate beer.

I take a sip of my drink and feel that familiar burn in my throat and stomach. I first started drinking when I was 13, but I've never really got drunk. Just a few drinks here and there...

Ambrose tries (and fails) to convince Lissa to drink a cup of beer, but he soon gives up when she doesn't budge. I don't really blame her. We drink a bit more, not enough to get us drunk, but definitely enough to make us bold, loose and excited. Luckily, no one catches us and Mark is distracted with his wife, Oksana.

Our favourite song started to play and Ambrose instantly met my eyes with a question. He gave me his hand and flashed an amused grin.

"C'mon Rose, let's show these losers how we dance."

Another thing you should know about me: I love to dance. Ambrose and I had actually been taking classes since we were younger, so we're pretty good.

"Are you serious?"

When he asked I actually thought he was kidding but now, as he tugged my hand and tried to pull me in the directionof the makeshift dancefloor, I realised he was VERY serious.

"Of course! 'No Brainer' is playing, it's our favourite song and we learned the coreography last week! Besides..."

He leaned towards me, his mouth just above my ear.

"Your little russian is looking. You could think of this like the first fase of project ROMITRI."

I was dumbstruck and frozen at the spot. First of all, there's nothing little about Dimitri and I don't mean that in a dirty way, so get your minds out of the gutter. He's just the tallest person I've ever seen. Second, he was looking at us, at me. Perhaps he finally noticed me. That thought alone made me blush and caused a funny feeling in my stomach.

Oh no... Oh no, no...

Great! Now I have freakin' butterflies in my stomach. How cheesy is that? Jesus...

Ambrose leaned back, looking over my shoulder. Probably at Dimitri, if he was still looking. That brought me to third...

"Project ROMITRI? What the hell?" I asked him, a small smile playing on my lips.

Smirking, he said: "Earth to Rose! Our secret project to bring the two of you together. Rose plus Dimitri equals ROMITRI. It's actually your ship name."

"Oh. My. Fucking. God. I don't know if I should thank you for supporting me or smack you in the head for making me a ship name."

He laughed, throwing his head back. Then he looked at me, attempting to hide a smile. He totally failed by the way.

"Let's go with the first option, Hathaway."

He grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the dancefloor.

"Let's go!" He sang, cheerfully.

This time I went.


	3. Chapter 2

We got to the middle of the dancefloor, with people swaying to the catchy beat of the song.

"Lose the jacket, I don't want you to get it all sweaty." He said, smiling at me.

I took it off and handed it to Ambrose, watching as he disappeared in the crowd, probably looking for Lissa. Last time I'd seen her, we'd been standing next to the drinks table.

Searching the crowd for the platinum blonde head belonging to my best friend and Ambrose's sandy blond one, I turned around and noticed that Dimitri was no longer sitting with his friends. Jesse Zeklos was roaring with laughter though, apparently due to an hilarious comment from Adrian Ivashkov.

I turned around again, hoping Ambrose would be back quickly. The weather was a little chilly and standing around in a damn tank top wasn't so good.

"Where the fuck are you, Ambrose?" I asked out loud.

"Did he ditch you or something?"

A voice spoke behind me, laced with a barely present russian accent. Gasping, I turned around.

Uhh, I was doing a lot of that tonight. By the end of the night I'd probably be dizzy from spinning so much...

Looking into his chocolate colored eyes, I felt heat creeping into my cheeks and hoped he wouldn't notice. But he was Dimitri and he noticed everything. He looked at me, eyes sparkling with amusement and something else I couldn't guess.

Realizing I still hadn't given him an answer, I replied.

"Who? Ambrose? No, he was just finding somewhere to put my jacket so we could dance. Although, if he does try to ditch me I'll have to hunt him down."

His smile grew and I lost myself in that damn smile. Dimitri didn't laugh or smile very often and knowing that I had made him do so...

Well, let's just say it is an intoxicating feeling.

"Do you make a habit of hunting down people who ditch you?"

He was making fun of me, but I couldn't really care. All I cared about in this moment was that he was actually talking to me.

"Nah..." I said playfully. "Usually I'd beat the crap out of them, but since he's a friend I guess he deserves a discount."

He chuckles and I can see he's surprised with himself and his reaction. Silence begins to infiltrate in our conversation but I dismiss it.

"So, are you enjoying the -" A voice calling my name interrupts me.

Ambrose reaches us and his eyes widen when he realizes who's talking to me. He looks surprised to see Dimitri here, despite our little plan.

Well, that makes two of us.

"Um hey, sorry to interrupt you guys..." He says, awkwardly.

"It's okay, I should get back to the guys anyway." Dimitri says, a weird tone lingering in his words. His smile and playfull ways are long gone, replaced by a guarded expression.

I've never wanted to kill Ambrose as much as I do now.

"You don't have to go, man." Sensing my glare, Ambrose tries to help me. It's no use though. With his eyes staring at the ground, I can feel he's going to leave us, me.

"No, I'll let you be."

My friend turns to me.

"Look, I just came to see if you still wanted to dance, but I can leave and come back later." There's a question in his voice.

Dimitri's head jerks up. "You dance?"

"Yeah, a little bit." I answer.

I'm torn between staying with the russian and telling Ambrose to get lost, or go dancing with me. Surprinsingly, Dimitri makes the decision for me.

"Go on then! Now you got me curious." He offers me a small smile.

I smile back and nod.

"Let's go, Ambrose."

"Yes, ma'am!" He's smiling too.

As we make our way through the crowd, Ambrose snickers beside me.

"Shut up!"

"It didn't take much, just saying. Maybe he likes you more than you know."

"Shh!"

Ambrose signals to Mark, who replays our song. There's always someone dancing in these parties so I'm relieved people aren't going to look at us like we've grown two heads.

We start moving with therhythm of the song, following the coreography to perfection. It's funny, energetic and kinda sexy. I watch as the crowd surrounds us, cheering and clapping their hands. I smile through the moves, catching a glimpse of chocolate eyes and platinum blond hair.

The music surrounds me, the rest of the world appears to shut down (if that even makes sense) leaving only me, Ambrose, our coreography and this weird sense of calm and hapiness. When I dance it's like I can forget evrything, all the problems around me, my crappy life, my family or lack of, the emptiness and sadness that I feel when I find myself alone...

Everyone has problems in their lives and, as such, everyone needs a lifeline. A sort of anchor, something that will make your life, no matter how bad it is, a little more worthy of living.

Me, I found that on music and dancing.

The minutes pass by and the music ends, leaving me to catch my breath.

Ambrose looks down, wrapping his arms around me and spinning both of us in circles. Giggling at his gesture, I try to beg him to put me down. Not sure if he understood though, I couldn't stop laughing.

"God, you're heavy!" He says, chuckling.

I laugh harder.

"Asshole! Now put me down!"

He does what I ask and we discretly leave the dancefloor before anyone has the idea of coming up to us and try to chat. I may be fine with dancing in public, but the last thing I need is to hear peoplecriticizing me or others pretending that we're pros.

We glance back, verifying that the crowd is still dancing like crazy people. At least some of them actually liked our dance.

"I think I'm gonna pass out." Ambrose interrupts my internal rambling and supports himself against a tree.

"Hey, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're so tired because you danced that you're going to pass out. I didn't peg you for a pussy."

It's natural that he's tired, so am I, but passing out is a little extreme.

"No, not from dancing. We've, I've, done that a million times. Just not in public. I guess it's the rush that's making me feel this way."

Taking my hand in his, he lifted it to his chest, right above his heart and pressed my fingers against his shirt, allowing me to feel his heartbeat.

"Breathe, just breathe. It's probably just the adrenaline making your heart go crazy. Thank god, I thought you were becoming a pussy." I teased him, trying to calm him.

"Pussy, my ass!" Smiling, he slaps my hand away gently.

"Come on, let's get you some water."

Thirst and fatigue lead us to a table full of water bottles and we basically throw ourselves at it, desperate to quench said thirst. I only manage to snatch one and take a greedy sip before I'm almost tackled to the ground by a wave of blond curls.

"Rose, you were amazing. I didn't know you could dance like that. I mean, I did, 'cause you told me about those classes, but I never saw you dancing with my own eyes, you know? God, I'm so proud. You were so amazing! Did I say that already? Damn, I can't remember, but my point is-"

I, honest to God, have no idea how Lissa managed to get all of that out without pausing to take a breath. The girl has skills!

Thankfully, Ambrose steps in and interrupts her.

"Your point is that Rose was amazing, we get it. We heard you the first time." He is beyond amused.

"Sorry guys, I just get super excited sometimes." She looks down at her fingers, embaressed.

I didn't want her to feel bad with herself, so I put my arm around her shoulders and try to make her understand that we're only joking.

Ambrose, however, is not satisfied and teases her a bit more.

"And thank you, by the way! For acknowledging me and giving me a few complements too." He pretends to be offended.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ambrose! You were great up there too. You're a really good dancer." Liss says, reaching to squeeze his hand with an apolegetic smile.

"Thank you, Lissa. And it's okay, I was just messing with you." He admits.

We sit down and keep talking and teasing one another. In the meantime, it gets colder and I put on Ambrose's jacket again, having taken it off Lissa's hands.

A familiar, sweet scent of an aftershave hits me out of the blue and I'm left wondering why it's so familiar.

Until a very tall, very handsome guy dressed in a brown leather 'cowboy like' duster stands in front of me.

"Hey!" I somehow manage to spit out.

"Hey." He greets me calmly.

He seems amused and I wonder if he knows the effect he holds over me. I sure hope not.

"Hey, Dimitri." Ambrose and Lissa say on unison, causing me to jump slightly.

I had almost forgot they were here.

Dimitri returns the greeting, polite as ever, while my friends come up with an excuse to leave us alone.

Liars... But go ahead.

**_A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner but school gets in the way and it makes it impossible for me to update regularly. Also, I might add some photos or GIF's to the chapters, but I'm not sure yet._**

**_If anyone gets curious about the dance, I based it on a coreography video I watched on Youtube and it's really good. Here's the link:https/watch?v=PY5HjKw2J_4_**

**_Rose's dance is supposed to be a mix of all the dances in the video._**


	4. Chapter 3

**Rose POV**

Dimitri sat down on the ground next to me without saying a word, which didn't really contributed to my growing anxiety. After the dance, I completely forgot to meet him again, as crazy as that sounds. The rush and excitement had been the only things in my mind and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, I did forget the boy I was in love with after all.

He didn't seem to hold it against me, though.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come back to talk to you..." I whisper, looking at my feet.

"It's okay, I understand." He replies, with a reassuring smile.

But what if he doesn't understand? What if he thinks I didn't want to talk to him anymore? I can't let him think that.

"I just forgot, truly! I was so caught up on the dance and the rush that - "

"You forgot everything else." He quietly interrupts.

My eyes widen with surprise and I look at him, really look at him. I'm astounded that he genuinely gets me, unlike most people. Any other person would think I was rude and would probably be offended at my lack of consideration.

Sensing my shock, he grins.

"Like I said, I understand."

A jolt of connection floats through me and I don't remember ever being happier than I am in this second.

"I watched you, dancing, I mean. You were amazing."

No matter how warm his words make me feel, he can't possibly feel the way I feel towards him, so I decide to laugh it off. I hate letting people see me hurt or affected by them in any way, it makes me feel weak and I've learned that I can't ever let someone see my weaknesses, it will only give them more power over me. Power to hurt me even more. So, despite my feelings for him, I can't let my guard down or he might crush me.

And I've been crushed enough times already.

"You're only saying that to be polite, per usual. Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings, you've probably seen way better dancers than me."

"No, never. And I'm not being polite either. Rose, watching you dance was one of the most captivating things I've ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

The seriousness and fierceness of Dimitri's statement leaves me with no other choice but to believe him. I look for an answer but I come up with nothing, my mind is blank.

What do I say to that?

Time to take a page from the Rose Hathaway manual guide.

"I take it you like it, then?" I tease.

"Very much." His grin is also teasing, making me blush.

We continue to talk like this for hours and it feels so natural and... easy. We tease each other again and again, but we also talk about serious subjects like family.

That's a touchy one. For both of us.

"All I have is my mom, at least as far as I know."

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen your dad around." He says.

"That's because he never was. When he found out my mother was pregnant, he bailed and left her and me. I've never met him and I can't really talk to dear old mom about him, it ends badly." I grimace, recalling all the times I wondered and questioned her about my biological father and his whereabouts, when I was younger.

While growing up, all the kids at school had two parents and it made me feel out of place, as if there was something wrong with me. I just wanted to be normal and have a normal, happy family.

My wishes didn't come true , obviously, and the only answer I got to my questions were a couple of black, purplish marks all over my small body.

Dimitri noticed the shift in my behavior and he took my hand, lacing our fingers together and rubbing circles on my skin with his thumb.

"What happened? After you asked her?" Something is his eyes told me he already knew what I was about to say.

"Sometimes, she would hit me. Never in the face, she didn't want to draw any attention, especially not Mark's. Janine Hathaway is a very practical person, always making sure that any marks, scars or bruises were covered up. Other times... Well, it was worse so, eventually, I stopped asking."

He lifts my hand to his lips, dropping a soft kiss there. My heart raced wildly, but I didn't want him to pity me.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He says, never letting go of my hand.

"It's fine, it's in the past. I just don't want you to think differently about me because of it."

"You think I pity you?" His expression is of disbelief.

No answer from me. I'm afraid he does because I'm not some wallflower that needs people to pity her. I don't want to be seen as a victim or something of the sort. But then, I'm also afraid that, if I answer honestly. he'll think I have him in such low consideration.

"Rose?"

Nope, not answering, Comrade!

Dimitri takes a deep breath, apparently exasperated and I realize I must be acting like a child. Precisely on the night I'm trying to make him see me in another way.

Keep up the good work, Rosemarie! You're doing just great!

I start to worry about my own personal mental health due to the fact that, besides talking to myself, I used my full name, but before I can come to any conclusions, strong yet gentle hands place a few strands of hair behind my ears.

Then, one of those hands tilts my chin up to meet those brown eyes that I'm so infatuated with.

"Answer me?" He questions in a low tone.

But it's not a question at all, it's a demand. A demand I can't ignore due to the simple, inexplicable, inescapable fact that I'm overwhelmed with his eyes, his mouth, his lips, his hands, his touch, his everything.

Dimitri's whole self overwhelms me, but I decide to not duel in that right now. Or else I might end up kissing him and that would be too soon.

And maybe unwanted?

"Yes."

Neither of us breaks eye contact, although it takes a massive effort from my part to keep my eyes away from his lips.

His brow furrows and he drops his hands.

The warmth I felt seconds ago is immediately gone, like his hands.

Dimitri stands up, then strips off his duster, revealinga white t-shirt underneath.

"Well, you're wrong. Can you come over here, please?" His voice is pleading.

I oblige him and stand up as well, confused as to what he's doing.

"What are you doing?" I decide to inquire.

"Showing you that there's a difference between pity and compassion."

With that not soenlightening statement he grabbed the edges of his t-shirt, pulled the item over his head and dropped it to the ground, landing right on top of his duster.

My jaw dropped.

And despite what you may be thinking, it wasn't only because of the sight in front of me, although that would be jaw dropping too.

My stunned reaction was due to the vision of several white marks with different sizes, covering Dimitri's torso, chest, upper arms and if I had to take a guess, his back as well.

As if reading my mind, he turned his back to me, allowing me to see the worst and biggest of his marks.

Scars.

Dimitri was covered in scars.

Not the hideous kind you see in movies, though. They had healed nicely and now they were just little white lines covering his body. Except the ones on his back, those weren't so little, their length wasapproximately the same as my hand.

I reached up, running my fingers softly through his back, tracing each and every mark. I could easily guess how'd they gotten there.

"Belt?" I guess.

"Yeah." His voice comes out raspier than usual.

Goosebumps raise on his skin and Dimitri turns to face me. I look up at him, rumors flashing in my mind.

"I heard shouting in their house last night."

"I could swear I saw his father's knuckles all bloody."

"He doesn't talk much about his father, no one on that bunch does."

Dimitri just stood there, while the wheels turned in my head and all the dots started to connect. Within seconds, a light goes off in my mind and I'm pretty sure I know exactly what happened.

"You've heard the rumors, haven't you?"

"I-I... Yes, I have. But- but I never thought much about it. I thought- I thought it was only people with nothing better to do spreading gossip." I struggle to say.

"Well, yes they were. But some of it it's true." He says, dryly.

"Your father, he... Was he the one who...?" I trail off.

The thought of someone hurting Dimitri sickens me. And his father no less. We're really more alike than we know.

He nods, his face twisting with hurt and anger as he probably remembers one of the times his piece of shit father hit him.

"He used to beat all of us, my mother, my sisters and me. It came to a point where he broke my mom's ribs kicking her and I couldn't take it anymore... so I hit him back. He was surprised." He chuckles, but it isn't that warm, happy laugh I love. It's dark. "I guess he didn't think his own son could knock him to the ground, because he left for good that same day."

I lace our fingers together, squeesing his hand to try to show him how sorry I am for everything he and his family had to go through because of that monster.

Dimitri squeezes back.

"So you see, it isn't pity I feel for you, it's - "

I interrupt him, because I finally understood.

"Compassion."

And it is. I had no idea that Dimitri had also been beaten by his parent, but I did now and it didn't change the way I saw him. He was still the strongest (and most beautiful) person I know.

Dimitri crouches down, picking up his t-shirt and putting it on.

And I don't realize I'm staring until he says:

"Do you think they're ugly?"

"Uh, what?" Could this be more embaressing? I can't even say one word naturally.

"My scars, you were staring." Dimitri gazes at me,apprehensively.

How could I ever find his scars ugly? Is he crazy? I decide to ask him just that.

"Are you crazy? How could I think they're ugly?" He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off, wrapping my arms around him.

"They aren't ugly, they're beautiful because they make you who you are." I whisper in his ear.

I hear his sharp intake of air at my declaration before he wrapps his arms around me and pulls me closer. He buries his face in my hair and somehow I know he's smiling.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere!" Someone shouts and we quickly pull away from each other, as we're interrupted.

But not by just anyone, I realize.

Adrian freaking Ivashkov.

**_A/N: I hope you like this chapter. Leave a review if you'd like, it would help me know what you guys think of my story :)_**

**_If you catch any mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them._**


	5. Chapter 4

**_Heyy people! Miss me? I am very sorry I took so long to update. I've been struggling with some personal issues and I completely lost all motivation to write but I guess I'm back. I won't promise to update regularly because I know I won't be able to, but I'll try to not let months pass by again. Although my issues are still not fixed, I'm trying to keep myself together. Enough of my rambling._**

**_WARNING: This chapter includes a scene that is a little violent. Nothing major but I'm just letting you know._**

**Rose POV**

If annoyance was a person, its name would be Adrian Ivashkov.

I don't have anything against the guy in particular. He's polite enough, though a bit of a player, resulting in sistematic attempts to flirt with you anytime he opens his mouth.

He made his way through the trees, towards us and when he got closer, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sorry, man. I must've lost track of time." Dimitri said as he put on his duster.

"No biggie. Just wanted you to know that we're getting ready for that thing, you know?" Adrian gave Dimitri a weird look, before his gaze fell on me.

What thing did they need to get ready for? It was obvious I wasn't supposed to know.

"Rose Hathaway, am I correct?" Adrian's lip twitched, like he was trying not to smile. There was something about his expression, not exactly mocking but not just being polite either.

"Yes, you are."

The way he was looking at me, up and down, as if he was checking me out (which, being Adrian, he probably was) was making me nervous, but I refused to let him see that.

Dimitri coughed and looked at his friend with a scowl on his face. It would be a funny sight if it were in another time.

"You ready, Dimka?" Adrian questioned.

"Yeah." Dimitri answered.

He was acting so serious, any trace of the vulnerable side he'd shown me was gone. Well, not exactly gone , more like hidden.

As I watched the two boys having a glare competition, Adrian smirking and Dimitri scowling, I remembered something Adrian said. He had said he'd been looking everywhere for Dimitri, right? Depending on his real effort to find the russian, that must've taken at least a few hours.

I know it's crap logic, but hey it's late!

My eyes widen.

Fuck!

It's late! It's been hours since the party, since the cries and laughs quieted down and the music faded.

Holy hell, I'm so screwed!

"What?" Both boys said in unison, interrupting their contest. Dimitri seems to have won, so that's good, I think. They were both looking at me, confusion all over their rather atractive faces.

Oh, wait...

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked,sheepishly.

Adrian chuckled while Dimitri tried to hold back a smile.

"Yeah, you did, Little Hathaway." Adrian said.

"Little Hathaway?" I arched my brows, due to my inability to raise just one.

"Little Hathaway." He confirmed, grinning.

I shook my head, disbelieving. I "met" him minutes ago and he already has a nickname for me.

"Anyway, what's the matter, Rose?" Dimitri questioned, stepping closer to me with concern filled eyes.

"What time is it?"

I had tried to find that out myself, but when I checked my phone, I had no battery left.

"It's 3 a.m." His eyes widened with surprise. Maybe he was so caugh up talking to me, he didn't notice the time flying by.

A girl can dream.

"Oh, is it past your curfew?" Adrian snickered.

I glared at him and, wisely, he shut up. Turning to Dimitri, I spoke in a low tone.

"I have to go, my mom's gonna kill me."

At the mention of her, Dimitri's features hardened and he nodded.

"Come on, we'll take you home."

We made our way through the trees slowly because of the absence of light. With the moon lighting our path, the park felt more sinister and haunting and while I was a fan of watching horror movies, I wasn't jumping at the possibility of starring in one so I walked a little faster. Trying not to fall on my face in the process. The wind bristles through the branches, reminding us that the sun is long gone, and I shiver despite the leather jacket enveloping me. I guess this type of jacket only does a good job in warming people when the sun's out.

Should've thought about that sooner, Rose.

We finally emerged from the trees, making our way to the park's exit where Adrian's shiny black Audi A7 stood. It was a nice looking and expensive car that only brought more questions to my already overcurious brain. I mean, Adrian wasn't rich, not at all. None of the guys were, yet almost every one of them had a nice car. Too nice, for this neighborhood anyway.

They were involved in some shady shit, that much was obvious because they're all around 18 years old and although most of them had a job, I doubt it was the kind where you could afford to buy a brand new car.

Besides, a girl from my class tried to save enough money to buy one, but she had to stick with an used one from one of those car lots that have a stupid name like "Tucker's super trucks".

In her defense, she worked at McDonald's.

Getting off topic.

"Nice ride, although I'm more of a sucker for classics. What's the horse power on this one?"I inquired, genuinely intrigued.

Cars and all things related were a big interest of mine since I was little. I used to wish I could have a father that would fix cars with me like I saw in movies. It was childish and I soon learned that real life was much more different from the one shown in the big screen.

My eyes swept the vehicle, my fingers itching to run themselves in the cool metal and gripping the wheel covered in quality leather, before glancing up to discover the cause of the sudden silence.

Adrian and Dimitri were both staring at me, Ivashkov's head cocked to the side, both jaws dropped. I quirked my brows, again cursing my inability to lift just one, walked to them and stopped right in front of them.

Nothing.

Uncrossing my arms, my hands reached up to their faces.

Nope, still not a word.

Trying really hard not to snort, I closed their mouths before any drool could come out. Or a fly come in, who knows? Life is full of surprises.

"Okay, now it's just creepy. Wake up?" I snapped my fingers right in front of their faces and the two living statues broke out of their transe.

Dimitri was the first to speak.

"You like cars?"

"Yeah, so?" I said, nonchalant.

"Nothing, it's just that pretty much every girl in this world doesn't understand the first thing about cars and is afraid to get a little dirt under their fingernails." Adrian shrugged, like this was common knowledge.

"Well, hum, I'm going to ignore the sexism in that sentence because that's downright insulting. But yeah, I like cars. Love 'em actually." I stated, rewarded with looks of awe from Dimitri and curiosity from Adrian.

A funny look crossed Dimitri's face, something resembling determination but he just commented "Interesting." and opened the back door of the Audi for me. I thanked him and soon we were on our way to my house, which was only 10 minutes away.

I gave them the adress and Adrian quickly drove through the hood's familiar streets, immediatly recognizing the location. I tried to keep my thoughts as clear of my mother as possible. I only wanted to worry about her reaction when absolutely necessary. During the drive, I managed to distract myself by interrogating Adrian's annoying existence about the specifics of his car. Power, speed range and a million other things. I think he was actually glad to pull over so I could stop talking. I got off the car and waved them goodbye.

"Thank you for the ride." I smiled, reaching the sidewalk.

They rolled down their windows at the same time, but Adrian or Asshole, whichever sounds better, spoke first.

"No need to thank me, Little Hathaway, the pleasure was all mine."

I smirked.

"Indeed it was." Come on, he set himself up for that one.

My eyes fell on the beautiful russian, whose eyes were already placed on me. He smiled at me, leaving me feeling a little warmer.

"See you, Roza."

"Roza?" I asked, confused.

He scratched the back of his neck, eyes focused on anywhere but me andembarrassment plastered all over his features.

"Er, Rose, I meant Rose. Well, goodnight then. Or morning." He said, quickly. Way too quickly.

I hid a huge grin behind my hair, waving goodbye and climbing up the stairs two at a time until I reached my porch, in time to see them drive off the street.

Fishing my keys from my jean's pocket and unlocking the door seemed to take forever as my anxiety spiked in fear of my mother hearing me. I prayed that her constant intoxicated state would pose as a sleeping pill. If she was hammered earlier in the evening, she might have passed out. I knew I was grasping at straws but didn't everyone lately supported positive and wishfull thinking?

"Cinderella finally decided to come home! I was wondering when you grace me with your obnoxious presence."

Fuckkkk!

Her alcohol induced slurred voice filled the silence on our living room, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I leaned to the door in search of support. The cenario was a disaster. Bottles scattered everywhere, some broken, some spilling the rest of its contents to the floor.

"Hey, mom. I'm -"

"A poor excuse of a daughter. I work hard all day to abide for you and how do you repay me? Staying out late while you should be cleaning this house and making our dinner." She got up the couch, yelling.

The urge to cry was crushing but I swallowed my sadness away, searching that numb place within me that acted as my shield, my armor against this woman.

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time, it won't happen again." No emotion could be detected in my voice.

At this point, I just wanted her to stop screaming. If she didn't, she would atract the neighbor's attention and I would have to hear whispers on the street tomorrow. Or today, actually. Janine kept grumbling loudly, kicking bottles and shattering them against the bookshelf next to me. I ducked and tried to dodge the shards, gaping at her. She was batshit crazy.

"Stop!" I shouted before covering my mouth. I shouldn't have yelled back to her, she hated it.

"What? Who do you think you are?" She came at me and before I could reach the safe haven of my room, my mother grabbed a fistfull of my hair and tugged it, pulling me to her.

I yelped in pain, begging her to let me go.

"Not getting rid of you when I found out I was pregnant was the biggest mistake of my life."

Tears fell down my cheeks at her harsh words. I knew, I already knew she didn't care about me so why did it hurt so damn much to hear her say that?

Janine released me abruptly and I fell down on all fours, my scalp burning with pain. I ignored it and stood up, looking at my mom dead in the face.

" I HATE you!" I cried out.

A hand instantly connected to my cheek in a painfull motion, the taste of blood on my tongue.

"You won't talk to me like that! Now get the hell out of here." She growled and I ran to my room, locking the door behind me, before I slid sown to the ground, pulling my knees to my chest. Loud sobs broke out of me, rendering me incapable of keeping them locked tight inside of me. My mind could no longer find that numb place that took the pain away, that took everything away. Feeling nothing sounded better than being miserable. For now, at least.

I sat there, against the door, for a long time until my breating came back to normal and the physical pain faded away. Eventually I remembered my phone was dead so I plugged it to the charger and turned it on. It was blowing up with unread messages from Liss and Ambrose and, not feeling like worrying them with my issues, I replied to their texts quickly, saying me and Dimitri got lost in conversation, but I was already home, safe and sound.

I threw my phone on the bed with the sound on, and looked over my window, attempting to survey the damage caused. Apparently the neighbors didn't hear anything.

Good.

A car lock ring tone disperses the fog in my mind, my focus on the green notification light on my screen. Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I opened my messages.

There was only one, from an unknown number.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you or something, just wanted to check in and see if you were alright. Was there any trouble with your mother?

\- D"

What?

Confused, I stared at the screen until the pieces started to puzzle themselves.

D.

Dimitri.

Dimitri texted me.

I frowned. How? We didn't exchange our numbers, did we? I replayed the night in my head and came to the conclusion that no, I didn't give him my phone number. The frown is replaced with a smile and I'm surprised to find myself covering my mouth to smother a giggle. My fingertips hover over the keyboard, excitement leading to indecision.

Dimitri's text is sweet and caring, but I'm conflicted between not worrying him or unburdening myself.

I go with the first one.

"Everything's fine, she was out like a light when I came in. Speaking of disturbing, how the hell did you get my number?

\- R"

While waiting for his reply, I saved his contact on my contact's list, on my favourites. His response comes a second after that.

"Glad you're okay. Have a good night (or morning).

P.S. I don't disclose my connections."

**_A/N: This is the longest chapter I've written so far, hope you liked it. Please, please leave a commentl if you enjoyed this chapter. It would mean the world to me :)_**

**_How did you guys think Dimitri got her number? And how do you feel about Rose's fight with her mom?_**

**_Btw I'm not a car expert or know it all, not by a long shot so if anything I wrote is wrong I apologize. If you spotted any mistakes, pls let me know in the comments so I can correct them. See u next time_**


	6. Chapter 5

**Rose POV**

Chemistry was as boring as ever, Mrs. Pratt giving us her Oscar-worthy "welcome back to school" speech. However, instead of a standing ovation, she was met with awkward silence.

Needless to say that no student was happy to be back at New Oaks High School. Summer break had gone by in a flash and it was time to face the harsh reality.

"Psst!"

Insert crickets sound.

"Psstttt!" I poked Lissa, trying to get her attention.

The traitor had been ignoring me for 10 full minutes and I was going crazy. Talking to someone was the only way to survive this class.

"What do you want?" She hissed, annoyance cristal clear in her voice.

"To talk, obviously." I rolled my eyes.

"Can't we talk later? I need to pay attention and so do you."

I waved her off. Lissa was a straight-A student while me, well , I'm a straight-B with an ocasional C.

"She'll be giving this speech 'til class ends and she'll be listening carefully to the words coming out of her own mouth, so she won't notice." I stated, beaming.

I could see she was just about to crack, just one more push...

"Come on, put me out of my misery!" I whined, pouting.

And...

"Okay, fine! What do you want to talk about?"

BAM!!! Mission acomplished.

"I don't know, you decide."

Lissa grew pensative for a few moments and then she smirked with a devilish glint in those emerald-green eyes of hers. Oh, I'm so screwed... My best friend might have the face of an angel, but she had the mind of a devil.

You should see her playing 'Truth or Dare'. She could come up with some pretty crazy dares and if you picked truth, she would ask you something that would make you wish you'd choose dare.

"I would like to know what you and Dimitri talked about for hours."

Why didn't I see this coming?

My smile dropped and hers grew bigger.

"Start talking, missy. You said and I quote 'You decide'."

Thirty minutes later, her eyes were wide and her hand barely muffled the squeals coming out of her mouth.

"Oh my god!" She shook me while I tried to escape her grip and not attract our teacher's attention at the same time.

"Ease up on the 'FRIENDS' references, will you?"

"Never, that's my favourite TV show."

It's mine too. Sometimes, when I slept over at Lissa's house we would binge-watch FRIENDS and try to reenact some scenes. Our best ones yet were Joey's catch phrase 'How you doin'?', Janice's 'Oh My God', Chandler's and Joey's horrible dance moves and Phoebe's 'Smelly Cat' song.

"But seriously, don't get too excited."

"I'll try. No promises though."

"Urghhh!"

The bell rung at that precise moment and all of us left the room as fast as we could. It was a normal day, with some classes flying by while others seem to last for hours. There were actually a few subjects I enjoyed and payed attention like Biology, History and English. The torture showed its ugly face in other cruel and stupid classes like Physics, Chemistry and, like for the vast majority of the sane teens in the world, Math.

Fortunately, my schedule for today consisted of only three classes in the morning, Chemistry, English and Biology, and one more class in the afternoon, P.E.

Piece of cake.

My morning classes went by smoothly and soon it was lunch time. Following our routine, we met up with Ambrose near my locker and then proceeded to the cafeteria together. Just when we were entering, we walked by Christian, Mason and Eddie. They abruptly stopped talking when they saw me. Weird.

I averted my eyes from them, shifting my focus to my friends. They were discussing today's menu.

Yay, food!

"Pizza, I want pizza. And maybe a donut. Or brownies. Or all of the above." I sighted, dreaming of all my favourite treats.

"That would be Heaven." Ambrose commented.

"Yeah, it would. Hey, Rose? Why are you wearing your hair like that? I've been meaning to ask you all day. You usually just let it loose."

I froze.

She looked at me curiously, waiting for an answer and I mentally slapped myself. Of course she would notice...

Lissa was right. It was a rare event to ever see me with my hair in different hairstyles, I usually just let it loose or sometimes I would bind it in a ponytail.

Not today.

Today I was wearing my hair to the side, concealing the right side of my face and using bobby pins to push back the hair on my left side. Kinda of like that witch character, Penelope Park from Legacies.

"Hum, I don't know. Just felt like it, I guess."

Liar.

"Oh, it looks nice." She said.

"Thanks." I tried to smile but I guess I didn't fake it as well as I should have because she frowned.

I walked faster to the line in an attempt to avoid comments from both Ambrose and Lissa. I grabbed my food quickly without even registering what it was and headed to our usual table. When I sat down, I waited for them so we could start eating.

They finally arrived, chatting and laughing and I tried to do the same, but the comment Liss made never left my mind.

Was it that obvious?

Was it obvious that I was trying to conceal my face?

I took a bite of my food, which luckily was pizza, and I tried to calm down.

But no matter how much I tried, my mind wouldn't settle down. I hated lying to Liss and Ambrose. If they found out the real reason behind this, if they knew that the reason I was wearing my hair like this was because the slap my 'mother' had given me had also left a small, but very noticeable, bruise on my cheek, they would be worried and they would probably give me a matching bruise on my other cheek.

I think that maybe the main reason I didn't want them to know was that once they did, they would know how my life really was. I mean, they already knew my mother was a drunk. Hell, the whole neighborhood probably knew. But they didn't know that she also beat me sometimes. I had kept it from them.

I knew I had to tell them eventually.

Secrets don't stay secret for very long.

And no amount of makeup could completely cover the purplish mark. Believe me, I tried. It covered it a bit, but if you looked at me, you'd still see it, ence the hairstyle.

Speaking of makeup, I had to remember to re-apply it before P.E. I'll go as soon as we finnish eating. For the next hour and a half I tried to lift my own spirits by talking and joking around with Liss and Ambrose. Surprisingly, it worked and by the time the bell rung for my last class I was in a much better mood.

Talking nonsense with friends will do that to you.

The minute I stepped through the doors from our P.E. building I heard a male voice directed at me.

"Hathaway, you're late. Gear up and meet us outside in 5." Stan Alto, our teacher, demanded.

"Sir yes, sir." I did that whole salutation thingy which got an eye roll from Stan.

I guess you could say we had a love-hate-mostly-hate relationship going on. Luckily P.E. was one of my favourite classes or else I wouldn't be able to endure my dear teacher's so called sass.

Me and a bunch of other students spent half the class running around the school looking for little white and orange signs. It was a true miracle that I managed to keep the bruise hidden, because not only had I been running like a lunatic but I also forgotten to re-apply my makeup, making my already noticeable bruise even more noticeable.

When I finished the exercise (thank God), I went back to meet my classmates. I delivered my sheet to Stan and made a beeline for the water fountain 'cause goddamn, was I thirsty.

Pretty much inhaling water, I had the not-so-brilliant idea to freshen up my face seeing I was burning up. Straightening up, I turned to leave and almost bumped into Seline Underwood, one of my classmates who was also a bitch with a capital B. She opened her mouth, no doubt to say some mean remark, but her gaze fixated on my cheek.

Oh.

OH!

My eyes widened with the shock of my own stupidity. My hand flew in a futile attempt to cover the purple mark but it was already too late. Seline had seen it perfectly.

"So, Hathaway, did you get that bruise from that stupid fight classes or did your drunk whore of a mother snapped and hit your not so pretty little face?" She smirked and my blood froze in my veins. She had said that to make fun of me, but she didn't realize how right she was.

But maybe when my face turned as white as paper she got the hint.

Seline quickly covered her mouth, a laugh escaping through her lips.

"Oh, she did hit you didn't she? This is gold, I mean, your own mother got so tired of your face she tried to change it. Well, news flash honey, purple isn't your color."

"Shut. Up." I gritted my teeth.

"Why would I ? Am I hurting your feelings? It's not really my fault that your own mother doesn't love you." That damn smile was still on her face.

"I said shut up!" My whole body trembled in anger and embaressment.

A part of me wanted to wipe the smile off Seline's face, but he weaker part of me wanted to run off, away from her gaze.

When I felt and heard more people aproaching us, probably noticing the tension, the weaker part of me won and I ran off, ignoring Stan's booming voice and my classmates chuckles. I ran. I ran and I kept running until I reached my street. Then, I stopped and crouched down to calm my erratic breathing.

I felt so ashamed. Rumors I could deal with, it was easy. But it's a completely different thing when other people know what's going on in your life.

I was so into my own head, I didn't notice when I passed by Mark's house and a voice called my name.

"Hey, Rose!"

"Huh?" I spinned on the sidewalk, looking for the person calling my name.

Standing on his porch, Richard waved at me.

Richard, or Rick, was Mark's and Oksana's son. He didn't live with them anymore but he visited a lot. I liked him, he was always kind. Very much like his parents.

"Long time no see." I faked a smile.

"How are you holding up?"

"Fine. I'm like a diamond, nothing can cut me. And just as pretty as one too." I shrugged, earning a laugh from Richard.

"You haven't changed a bit. I'm glad. But I get the feeling that you're lying to me." He crossed his arms, waiting for a reply.

I sighted.

"It's nothing. Just a rich bitch at school annoying me. It's fine, I don't really care about what she, or anyone else for that matter, says about me." I don't know if I was trying to convince him or myself.

"That may be true, but you shouldn't forget one thing. Rich people love to judge and diminish people with less financial prosperity than them, it brings them joy and a sense of superiority and power. Don't let them get to you. Money doesn't make a person." He was right, I just wished more people thought like this.

"I know money isn't everything, but it sure would be great to have some. I could finally leave this place and find my own house, away from certain people."

"You'll get there someday. Just look at me." Richard pointed at himself, which made him look silly and funny.

I cracked a smile.

"I wish!" I was so tired of this little town, with its little people.

"You will, trust me. You'll have to work hard, hard than those who have money. Rich people don't value what they have. They take it for granted and act superior, while people like you and me work our asses off all our lives to have even just a fragment of that." His words were deep and true.

"What was your major again? You should be a politician. God knows we need more of those, a little bit like you." Deep conversations at this hour was too much for me to take, so I eased up the chat with a small joke.

"Maybe you're right. Well, I should get going. My turn to cook dinner for mom and dad. See you!" He messed up my hair and bolted for the door, afraid of my reaction.

I giggled.

"Good luck! See you, Rick."

He closed the door and I kept walking to my front door. I entered the house quietly, rushing to my bedroom and locking the door behind me. Fallind down on the bed, I put my headphones on and stared at the ceiling 'Lovely' by Billie Eilish and Khalid echoing in my head.

My mind kept going back to Seline and the shame I felt when she got a good look at my face.

Why?

Of all the people at school, why her?

Haven't I suffered enough? My father, my mother...

I've had enough. And Rick was right. What he said was playing on repeat between my thoughts.

**_'Rich people don't value what they have. They take it for granted and act superior, while people like you and me work our asses off all our lives to have even just a fragment of that.'_**

As the song progressed, an idea struck me harder and faster than lightning.

**_A/N_**: **_I'm_****_ back!! yayyy_**

**_Hope u like this chapter_**

**_Leave a review and tell me what you think of my story so far._**

**_sorry if there's any errors, I corrected a few but I might have missed others_**

**_It sucks that I can't use gifs here but if you're curious to see how I picture some of the characters, head to Wattpad._**


	7. Chapter 6

**Rose POV**

The first thing I did was call Lissa. She, like the outstanding person she was, picked up in less than two seconds. At first, I barely understood what she was ranting about, until she paused to breathe and I took my chance to speak.

"Meet me by the abandoned warehouses, in one hour. It's important."

At that, Vasilisa grew serious and simply agreed with my request.

I spend a half hour going over everything, every single aspect of my idea, hoping Liss would go along with it. It was a long shot but it was worth it. When I was done, I went to meet my best friend.

The abandoned warehouses were located on the outskirts of New Oaks. Very few people knew about it, and those that did tend to stay away due to the reports of ghosts and unusual ocorrences near the empty buildings. These 'unusual ocorrences' consisted of objects moving on their own, screams echoing through the brick walls and footsteps. If you haven't guessed by now, all of this was planned and orchestrated by yours truly. With the assistance of a very excited and gigly Lissa.

We tried our best to keep people away. We wanted a place that was special, a place that was just ours. And the warehouses were that place.

For years now, me and Lissa (and eventually Ambrose too) had been meeting and hanging out there , far from other people, just us. It felt nice to have something, a place, that belonged only to us.

Living closer to the place in question, I was the first one to arrive, followed by Liss shortly after.

I had spent the last hour planning exactly what to say to convince my best friend to commit minor crimes.

Just another day in your normal teenager life, right?

"Rose? Are you here?" I heard her call.

This place had at least six buildings but the one where we were now was our Headquarters so to speak.

"Up here."

I could hear her soft footsteps climbing the stairs.

This building wasn't chosen randomly. Unlike the other five, the building in question possessed only two floors and the rooftop. It granted us a strategic view from the area around every building. In short, if someone decided to come here or something, we could see it from the second floor. The first floor was pretty much like you imagine an abandoned warehouse would be. No light, no doors, windows without glass. Trash littered the ground right alongside glass and leaves. There was broken furniture lying around and the stairs, in the far left corner, were missing a handrail. For the sake of appearances, we didn't do much to change the decor, although we did sometimes pick up the trash. What can I say? We care about the environment.

Moving on, the second floor wasn't very different than the first, a little bit cleaner, a few windows and doors intact, a couple furniture pieces still standing. It had five rooms total. A kind of living room if you will, right next to the staircase, from where we had a privileged view, an old but surprisingly big bathroom, two empty rooms and last but certainly not least, _our_ room.

The space was a tiny bit hidden so say, if someone came in , they wouldn't spot it right away. Or maybe they wouldn't spot it at all. The door stood behind an old curtain. The three of us had the idea of reinforcing security a little and ended up buying door locks and padlocks to make sure no one other than us could come in.

So far there hasn't been a single incident so we're all cool as a cucumber.

Needless to say that this is the best furnished room. We have three sofas, a couple of beanbags, a huge shelve in the right wall and a generous wooden table in the left corner. And chairs too, of course. A few old carpets here and there.

It was cozy.

And clean.

And safe.

And ours.

Almost forgot, if you're wondering about the ground floor, it consists of four bare (-ly) walls and a creaky-wooden-rotten staircase.

Nothing worth mencioning.

I stood near the window in the 'living room' when Lissa stopped next to me.

"You want to talk?" She says softly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I dragged you out here."

"It's okay. What are friends for?" She takes my hand.

"Come on, let's talk in a more safe place." Still holding hands, we unlocked our room and stepped inside. Lissa locked it after.

I threw myself into the middle couch. Lissa sat very gracefully.

"What's going on, Rose? I'm worried about you."

Boy, this was going to be a big talk.

When I was home I had thought of what to say. I reached the conclusion that I couldn't ask this of Lissa without being honest first. All this time I said to myself that I've kept things from her and Ambrose to protect them. But I realized we can only protect someone to a certain degree. There comes a time that we have to ask if the person we are protecting even wants that protection. We can't protect someone from everything. We have to let them fend for themselves. So I knew It was time for me to tell her the truth. I had decided to tell her about my mom.

_I just hope she doesn't get too angry at me for keeping this from her. She is my best friend, my sister. I can't lose her. Ever._

"I need to tell you something." My voice trembled.

"You know you can tell me anything. I'm here for you." She smiled, although her expression was a little anxious.

I took a deep breath. How to start? Should I just spit it out? _My mother hits me and I never told you because I didn't want your pity or that you would think differently about me._

Probably not a good idea.

I could just...

Raising my hands, I slowly pushed the hoodie that was hiding half of my face back. As soon as it fell back, I saw Vasilisa's eyes widen.

"Wh-What? What happened?" Her fingers flew hesitantly to my cheek, brushing it softly.

"My mother." I watched her nervously.

"_What_?"

I took a deep breath. Again. Here it goes.

"Hum, my mother and I had a fight. She was drunk. I said some things I shouldn't have and she-she hit me." I swallowed.

Keep going, Rose. You got this. It's Lissa.

"And it isn't the first time. She has always been abusive. When she gets drunk or mad, I... It started when I was really young. I would ask about my father and she would just get so mad at me. She hit me where people wouldn't see. As I grew up, I stopped asking but she didn't stop hitting. She got more and more drunk and whenever I did something wrong, talked back to her or just tried to stop her, she would... Well, you know." I looked down at my hands.

"Rose..." Lissa's voice was barely a whisper. "Look at me, please."

I raised my head, my nails gripping my thighs. Lissa's emotions were so clear on her eyes, I could almost tell exactly what she was feeling.

Confusion, at first.

Realization.

Shock.

Sadness.

Anger.

"Why didn't you tell me? I can't believe that you were going through that all this time and I never knew. I knew it was bad at home for you, but I never thought she..." She drifted off. A single tear fell down her cheek and she threw herself at me, hugging me fiercely.

"I wanted to. But I couldn't. I wanted to be normal. I didn't want you to pity me or think differently of me because of this. I didn't want you to worry about me all the time."

Her grip tightens, my air supply decreasing.

"That's what friends do, you stupid idiot." Despite the insult, her voice remained sweet.

"But I was also ashamed of it and I knew you would try to protect me and you would do something and I was scared my mom would get mad at you or you could get in some sort of trouble and I couldn't have that." I said in one breath.

She leans back to look at me, still gripping me. There's sadness in her face, but not pity.

Not pity.

Thank God.

"First, I would never pity you. Everyone fights a battle in their lifes. Some problem they need to face. Why would I ever pity someone like that? A fighter. I admire them. I admire you." She shook me, as if forcing me to believe her words.

I did. Liss understood the struggles people went through. She went through stuff too.

" Second, you have nothing- and I mean absolutely nothing- to be ashamed of. Your mother is the one that should be ashamed. You're the child. She's the mom. She's supposed to protect you and love you. And she failed." With her words my eyes start to water.

How many times did I wish I had a mother like that? Flashes of what ifs and alternate realities appear on mind and I start to cry for the childhood I never had.

In seconds, I'm back in Lissa's arms, her hamds caressing my head and my back. She turns her head a little, her lips near my ear.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine, Rosie. You will be happy. And by the way, I would never do anything without asking or talking to you first. I respect you and your choices and I would never go behind your back, even if I wanted to."

I glue my arms around her neck and give her a small kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Liss."

"I love you, Rosie."

**_A/N: Hey, I'm back!! Summer has been crazy..._**

**_This is a small chapter :(_**

**_I was hoping to write a few more things to move the story forward but when I got to this point, I felt like these two needed this moment to be theirs, just like this. They needed to talk and let some things out, specially Rose, so it ended up being a lot smaller than what I had planned. _**


	8. Chapter 7

**Rose POV**

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

We had spent the last hour and a half talking about my confession and certain episodes of my life. I was glad everything was out in the open now, it was like a huge weight had been lifted of my shoulders.

"Actually…Yeah, there is." I replied.

"Okay, shoot." Lissa said, crossing her legs and giving me her full attention.

"Have you heard what happened today? With Seline?" My guess was she hadn't. If she had, she would've been a little less shocked with what I told her about Janine.

"I heard a few rumors, that's it."

"Well, let me catch you up to speed." I proceeded to report today's events, since Seline to my conversation with Richard.

* * *

"I mean, he's not wrong. Not all privileged families think and act like that, but the majority does. They act as if they are royal families." Liss frowned and I could bet it was because if people didn't know her, they would certainly think of her that way.

Despite their wealth, the Dragomirs were good people with good morals.

A rare event in this world.

"Exactly! And that gave me an idea." The excitement was nerve wracking.

She pretended to lock her lips and threw away the key.

"This is only valid for people who actually deserve it, okay?"

"Hum, that sounds creepy, but okay." She smiled.

"Shush. Okay, so what Rick said about rich people not giving value to what they have while we work our asses off got me thinking. What if we took a little of what they have? Like Robin Hood!"

My best friend was shocked.

And that's an understatement.

Lissa blinked once. Then twice. She opened her mouth. And closed it.

"You-I…But…" Oh dear God, I broke her brain.

I grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her softly.

"Breathe, Liss, just breathe."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she finally opened them, I could see she was back to herself.

"You're talking about stealing." She pointedly said.

"Technically, it's only stealing if we get caught." I shrugged.

She huffed.

Apparently, she disagreed.

"It's a crime. If we're caught, we could end up in jail."

Tell me something I don't know.

"Am I crazy or you sound like your biggest concern is doing jail time? Not that stealing is a bad thing or something we shouldn't do, but actually going to jail."

Silence.

"Liss, are you considering it?" I was curious.

Vasilissa Dragomir was a good person. I was prepared to receive a scolding and a bunch of 'Are you crazy?' shouts to my idea, but I think she was really considering it.

"I…How can I explain? I think it's a good- Well not good. It's a bad idea, but I can understand it and a part of me agrees with it. They took so much from so many. Why not take something back? I'm-I'm just scared." She confessed.

"I know. Me too. But we wouldn't get caught. Not if we do everything right. You're a pro in all things related to technology and you can hack. That's gonna be useful. If we make sure nothing leads back to us, we'll be fine." It was a serious matter.

If we went through with this, nothing could implicate us. We couldn't leave money trails, DNA, witnesses, absolutely nothing. It had to be perfect.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I want to try it. If anything starts to go wrong, though, we stop this and forget it. Understood?"

A huge, enormous, gigantic grin made its way to my face.

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

The walk from the warehouse to my neighborhood usually took around 15 to 20 minutes. After staying there for a little bit, both Lissa and I decided it was time to go home.

Stubborn as she was, Liss insisted on walking home with me.

"You really didn't have to."

"Yes, I did. I don't like you walking around alone." How cute.

"Yeah and it's not like I do that every day, right?" I say sarcastically.

"Urgh, cut the damn sass." She hit me lightly on my shoulder, causing me to giggle.

"Anyways, there's something I need you to promise me." She turned serious.

"What?" I suspected what was coming.

"If things get too bad at home, talk to me. You can call, text, whatever. Just don't keep me in the dark." Her voice turned soft.

"I won't, I promise." And I wouldn't. I didn't like to make promises I couldn't keep and besides, it did feel better to talk to Lissa.

"And if you want, you know my door is always open for you, so you can sleep at mine, whenever you need."

"I promise you I'll talk to you when or if something happens. And I'll take you up on the offer, I love your house."

We continued to tease each other through the rest of the way, talking nonsense as most teenagers do. It felt good doing this. I hadn't felt like a simple teen for a very long time. The teasing and the laughing abruptly ended when we reached the park near my place and someone decided to join the conversation.

"What's so funny?" A familiar voice chimed in.

We turned towards the source and they caught sight of a certain group of individuals. The source in particular assumed the figure of a very red-headed Mason, grinning form ear to ear.

Dimitri, Christian, Adrian, Mason, Eddie and Ivan Zeklos were a few feet ahead of us, deep in talk against the parks' fence. They too stopped when they spotted us. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after all each of them lived reasonably close and they regularly hung out in the street. I think they should have a spot, like Liss and I did, but they weren't very choosy about hang out places. The usual gang was all there with the addition of Ivan. He lived in New Oaks too but he mostly kept to himself. He was Jesse's older brother and an old friend of the boys, although he didn't spend as much time with them in comparison with to the others. He was already in his twenties so I figured he had some more serious concerns like perhaps his employment. Who knows?

My gaze returned to Mason, because me being me always had to have the last word. Besides, it was always fun to rile Mason up.

"The sound of your voice, Ashdown. It's so high-pitched I mistook you for Marianne from school." I delivered with a sweet, innocent smile.

A few of them tried to disguise their laughter by coughing but failed completely. Mason didn't appear to care, though. Well, good for him. Self-esteem and all that.

I tried to keep my eyes on Mason, even though I could see Dimitri from the corner of my eye. He hadn't uttered a word yet, instead he seemed to be watching the whole exchange. I risked a glance and found his eyes shining with amusement.

"Always a comeback in the tip of your tongue." Mason chuckled.

I shrugged.

"Better to give them than to get burned by them."

Adrian, who had been speaking on the phone, chose this moment to enter the conversation.

"Hellooooo!" He yelled, strangely in a very excited way. Honestly, he looked like a little kid.

I ignored him.

"Wise words, Hathaway. Didn't think you were capable of them." Christian piped in.

Christian Ozera had something about him just pissed me off. Maybe it was the way he was smirking like she was supposed to be dumb as a door and he Einstein. So naturally I smiled even more when I turned to him.

"Oh! Hi, Sparky! I didn't notice you there."

Christian's smirk evaporated and just as he was about to reply, Dimitri decided to intervene.

"You always call Chris that. Why?" He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't serious at all. It was hard to explain, but I could tell he was enjoying this whole thing.

I grinned wickedly. Great question.

I turned to 'Chris'.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" I saw Ozera tense and I did a mental high five. If riling Mason up was fun, doing the same to Christian was ten times better.

"Shut the fuck up." He said through gritted teeth.

"Why? It's a great story. Your friends should hear it." I pouted.

"Which we're dying to hear, so spill the beans." Now it was Eddie Castile's turn to join the conversation.

Lissa was remaining quiet at my side, glancing back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. She knew the story as well as I did, but she was too kind to embarrass someone. I wasn't.

The incident had happened long, long ago when they we're all little kids. In one surprisingly creative class, they had endured a small play where they were supposed to pretend to be living in the wilderness. Some of the kids, Christian included, were tasked to pretend to build a fire by grinding two stones together. The teacher must have thought that children couldn't possibly do it for real but Christian had surpassed her expectations. He grinded the rocks with determination and soon, sparks appeared followed by a small fire, which consumed his hideous paper hat.

The whole class panicked and our teacher gave the scolding of the year to little Ozera, who clearly wanted to be everywhere but there. I never forgot the occurrence and so the nickname had stuck.

Lissa interrupted my road trip down to memory lane by nudging me in the shoulder.

"As much fun as this is, we should get going." She spoke loudly.

"That's not fair, Rose hasn't told us anything." Adrian whined.

"Alas, Lissa is right, we should go. I'll let Sparky tell you guys." Despite my teasing, I really wasn't in the mood for spilling the tea. I knew Christian was embarrassed and I wasn't evil.

Lissa said her goodbyes and I was just about to do the very same when the russian I was slightly infatuated with stepped forward.

"Could I talk to you for just a minute before you go?" He asked. He expression was more severe now, indicating that bickering time was over and serious matters needed to be discussed. If I was to hazard a guess, I think I had a pretty good idea of the topic.

"Sure, Comrade."

Turning to Lissa, I found her already looking at me and before I could get a word out, she spoke.

"I'll wait here for you, with the guys. I'm sure there are a bunch of hilarious stories we could share while you two chat, without mentioning Christian's of course." Her face showed this weird, small smile, but I didn't have time to decipher it right now because I felt a slight, feathery touch on my elbow that made me whip my head around.

Later then.

Dimitri signaled to a spot a few feet away from the group, where we would be out of earshot and therefore, have a little privacy. I leaned on a small tree and looked at him.

"What do you want to talk about?" I inquired. _Wow, Rose! Keep playing dumb. You forget he sees right through you_.

"I think you know. How are you feeling?" He took a step forward, probably just making sure no one heard us.

His tone was insinuating something, but I couldn't figure what exactly. There's no way he could possibly know about what happened when I got home after he gave me a ride and there was much else to know really.

"I'm perfectly fine. Why are you asking?" I raised both brows, due to my inability to raise just one. Damn it.

He hesitated for a minute, but he must have decided the best course of action was to be straightforward.

"Mason and Chris heard some rumors today, in your school. About you." His voice was low and gentle, incredibly sweet.

Crap! Damn Mason and stupid Christian for opening their big mouths. Why couldn't they just stay quiet about it? _Time to do damage control. You got this._

"Oh, that! It's no big deal, just a girl from my class who was acting bitchy and spread those stupid rumors." I said, nonchalant.

He definitely didn't buy it, because Dimitri narrowed his eyes at me. I, for one, kept my eyes on him, unwavering, waiting for the moment he would call me up on it. He let it go instead.

But at that precise moment, a car passed by and its headlights illuminated us. Dimitri's back was to the car, but unfortunately, I was facing it and so all the details my face contained were extremely visible. When we first saw the boys, I wasn't very worried about the bruise on my face, as it was getting darker and the only source of light in the street were the streetlamps that barely lit anything. However, this dear driver had felt the need to shine a spotlight right in my face and now all it took was a brush of my hair and it would be 100% visible.

Dimitri must have superpowers, though, because he didn't need that percentage.

"Rose, what happened to you cheek?" He said each word slowly and clearly, as to not scare me, but the harshness laced in his voice was unmistakable.

In what appeared an instinct move, Dimitri brushed his own hair away from his face and that's when I caught a glimpse of a small cut on the left side of his forehead. He saw where my eyes were focused on and he quickly adjusted his hair back, in a way the cut was no longer visible to me. Too late.

I crossed my arms, defensibly.

"What happened to your forehead?"

* * *

**_A/N: Hey!! I'm back! How are you guys? I hope you're all safe and healthy. _**

**_I know I haven't updated in months but I had the biggest writers block ever and I literally haven't wrote anything in months. But, this past week I did something I'm really proud of, I finished writing this chapter after having absolutely no ideas for it. Guess this quarantine is being productive. Anyway, happy reading :)_**

**_Please, pleaseeee leave a review, even if it's just one sentence. Your opinion matters a lot to me and I would love to know what you think of this story because I'm still not very confident of my writing abilities._**

**_Stay safe guys_**


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